Australia: Strike gold

The over-the-top Palazzo Versace is completely at home on the Gold Coast. Photo / Supplied

It wasn't the thrill I had anticipated from the Gold Coast. I had expected to spend my first day learning to surf, hugging a koala and digging my nails into the safety bar of a rollercoaster. So to be experiencing, for the first time, the exquisite sensation of having one's feet oiled and rubbed was a little surprising.

That it turned out to be a warm-up to a glorious full facial was even more so - in the best possible way. Afterwards, as I wandered away fragrant and glowing, I reflected on my first day back on the Gold Coast since a childhood holiday. Perhaps we had both grown up?

These days there's a lot more to Surfers Paradise than beaches and amusement parks. There's Palazzo Versace, for a start, although, arguably, it too is an amusement park of sorts.

The spectacular resort, created in the very European, very OTT style of the late Gianni Versace, somehow fits the Gold Coast like a gaudy glove.

From the marble mosaic turning circle in the entrance way, guests are led into a huge foyer crowned with a 750kg antique chandelier. After a start like that, it doesn't seem at all strange that every inch of the place is dripping with gold, and branded with the Versace logo.

Perhaps it's the famous Aussie brashness that seems to erupt out of the sand of the Gold Coast into towering skyscrapers that makes the Palazzo Versace such a good fit.

If, however, you fancy a nosy and don't feel like shelling out for a room, try a meal in one of the four restaurants, while you moon over visiting superyachts.

The next day promised something a little more familiar - and no matter how I tried to convince myself that I was far too old for theme parks, the thought of a Movie World visit was still enough to stir excitement. Although, it turned out, I wasn't so much too old as too scared. And if the white-knuckle rides weren't enough to have my knees knocking, we emerged to be bundled on to the the back of Harley Davidsons, courtesy of Gold Coast Motorcycle Tours.

It was travelling in a style to which I am most certainly not accustomed. The rest of my group, clearly still dizzy from being spun around Movie World, all gleefully leapt aboard. I hung back, trying to come up with an excuse manly enough to keep my feet on the ground.

With none forthcoming I inelegantly climbed aboard to discover that my driver's head came level with about my chest and the idea seemed to be that I grip him with my legs. So I was risking life, limb and reputation.

By the time I stepped off the bike at the 322.5m Q1 Tower I was walking with a manly swagger - as much to do with the position in which my legs had been jammed for 30 minutes as the exhilaration of roaring down the Gold Coast Highway and cruising Main Beach atop the gleaming motorcycle. I don't think I'm quite an Easy Rider yet, but what a buzz.

From the top of the Q1 Tower - the world's tallest all-residential building - all of the Gold Coast is laid out, from miles of golden sand to a canal network longer than that of Venice, to the Queensland hinterland and Lamington National Park. It's a great spot to gain some perspective of the region's diversity.

With my inner thighs still a little creaky, post-Harley ride, it was a relief to step inside the glamour of a limousine for the Gold Coast's Magic Millions race day.

The thoroughbred races are the culmination of a week each January in which ladies parade for wealthy admirers in fashion competitions, and the cream of Aussie bloodstock is similarly eyed up by horse trainers from around the world.

Sweating through my suit in temperatures made for boardies and Jandals, one of the first of the locals I came across was wearing a bow tie and tails.

Wisely, he had chosen to leave his shirt at home and finished off the look with a can of premixed bourbon and coke in each hand. Classy.

I was carried on a wave of excitement straight to the tote. With the Australian flag wobbling proudly on boob tubes and Stubbies, I was struck by a flash of patriotism and put all my cash on the Kiwi horse. Not my wisest move, it turned out.

Broke but happy, it was time to head home. I'd spent a week on the Gold Coast and never stepped on a beach, but you can do that in New Zealand. It was great to see what else Surfers Paradise has to offer.

Chris Marriner travelled as a guest of Tourism Queensland and Queensland Events.